News

Local children in distress and their families are being helped through an innovative, user-friendly early intervention program being showcased tomorrow [eds: 21 November] in Penrith at 11am.

Penrith MLC Mrs Karyn Paluzzano will be in attendance as Wesley Mission’s Nepean Brighter Futures office celebrates one year in operation and the first gleams of success from intensive case-work with children aged from 0 to eight years and their parents. 

A new Wesley Mission study out this week, Beyond adversity: giving kids a chance to shine, is the latest research report to point to intervention at the earliest possible point giving the best possible chance of success.

“It is surely better to build strong children than to spend our life repairing adults,” Wesley Mission CEO/ Superintendent Rev Keith Garner said, launching the report this week in Sydney.

The recent tragic incidents of abused children and estimates showing that childhood abuse and neglect end up costing Australians $5 billion a year show that the human and economic costs of childhood adversity are high.

“Every year at Wesley Mission we see thousands of people who suffer from a range of problems that stem from their childhood experiences,” Mr Garner said.

At the report launch, the NSW Commissioner for Children and Young People Gillian Calvert, Wesley Mission Family Centres Regional Manager Heather McIntyre, Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics at Sydney University and Westmead Children’s Hospital consultant Professor Kim Oates AM, Professor Ilan Katz of the University of NSW’s Social Policy Research Centre and Andrew McCallum of the Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies were in agreement that value-driven early intervention programs with a long-term focus were vital.

Brighter Futures, run by the Department of Community Focus through Wesley Mission as lead agency partnering with a network of more than 20 other agencies in the Nepean, Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury area, encapsulates the best current thinking in early intervention.

Key elements are the focus on very young children – children 0 – 3 years are given priority; in-home visits and the use of early childhood facilitators; a multi-pronged approach for the different problems that troubled families face; willing participation by the families, long-term care to achieve lasting results, and the use of known local community agencies to encourage trust and participation in the program.

Wesley Mission Family Services and Early Intervention Programs manager Peter O’Brien, Nepean Early Intervention Co-ordinator Nathan Brown will join Mrs Paluzzano and Wesley Mission CEO Rev Keith Garner tomorrow to speak about Brighter Futures and the work with local families. [Eds: all will be available for interview.]

Details:

Brighter Futures Nepean
11am
Suite 101, 148 Henry Street, Penrith

The anniversary celebrations start with an acknowledgement to the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land	Nepean EIP Manager Petra Williams describes how Brighter Futures works
The eye-catching signs and logos created for Brighter Futures sets a bright mood

Dinoo Kelleghan 
Public Affairs 
Wesley Mission
Ph: (02) 9263 5545 
Mobile: 0434-076644
Email: dinoo.kelleghan@wesleymission.org.au